Search operations have stopped two weeks after the explosion at the Surmalu shopping market in Yerevan, and the Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES) of Armenia is currently only on duty there, MES spokesman Hayk Kostanyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

"When the Investigative Committee will finish its activities, it will be clear according to it how the [market] owner resolves the future issue of the building, we will end the duty accordingly. One citizen is considered missing. As a matter of fact, he was at the epicenter of the explosion, the rescuers did not find him, the Investigative Committee will issue a statement about him," Kostanyan added.

Three people have been arrested Sunday in connection with the explosion at the Surmalu market; they were the users of the warehouse of this Market. The deputy director of the Yerevan Canning Factory, however, has been released, as the court did not grant the petition to arrest him.

A strong explosion took place at the Surmalu shopping market on August 14. As a result, 16 people died and one person is considered missing. The search for this missing person, however, has stopped. Three injured continue to be treated in various hospitals; they are in satisfactory condition.